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Controlling factors on the submarine canyon system: A case study of the Central Canyon System in the Qiongdongnan Basin, northern South China Sea

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Abstract

Based on an integrated analysis of high-resolution 2D/3D seismic data and drilling results, this study analyzes the tectonic-sedimentary evolution of the Qiongdongnan Basin (QDNB) since the late Miocene, and discusses the controlling factors on the formation and development of the Central Canyon System (CCS). The sediment failures caused by the relative sea level falling might have discharged deposits from the slope to the canyon. The two suits of the infillings, i.e., turbidites and mass transport complex (MTC), were derived from the northwestern source and northern source, respectively. The sediment supplies, which differ significantly among different areas, might have led to the variations observed in the internal architectures. Tectonic transformation around 11.6 Ma had provided the tectonic setting for the CCS and formed an axial sub-basin in the central part of the Changchang Depression, which could be called the rudiment of the CCS. The tectonic activity of the Red River Fault (RRF) at about 5.7 Ma might have strengthened the hydrodynamics of the deposits at the junction of the Yinggehai Basin (YGHB) and the QDNB to trigger a high-energy turbidity current. The MTC from the northern continental slope system might have been constrained by the Southern Uplift, functioning as a barrier for the infillings of the CCS. Thanks to a sufficient sediment supply during the Holocene period and the paleo-seafloor morphology, the relief of modern central canyon with the starving landform in the eastern Changchang Depression might have been accentuated by deposition of sediments and vertical growth along the canyon flanks, where collapse deposits were widely developed. Corresponding to the segmentation of the CCS, the forming mechanisms of the canyon between the three segments would be different. The turbidite channel in the head area had likely been triggered by the abundant sediment supply from the northwestern source together with the fault activity at about 5.7 Ma of the RRF. The formation and evolution of the canyon in the western segment were caused by combined effects of the turbidite channel from the northwestern source, the MTC from the northern continental slope, and the paleo-seafloor geomorphology. In the eastern segment, the canyon was constrained by the tectonic transformation occurring at approximately 11.6 Ma and the insufficient sediment supply from the wide-gentle slope.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Gas Hydrate Formation Mechanism, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Ming Su

  2. Guangzhou Center for Gas Hydrate Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Ming Su

  3. Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources of Ministry of Education, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Ming Su, Cheng Zhang, XiNong Xie, Tao Jiang & YunLong He

  4. China National Offshore Oil Zhanjiang Ltd. Corporation, Zhanjiang, 524057, China

    ZhenFeng Wang

  5. Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, China

    CuiMei Zhang

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  2. Cheng Zhang
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Correspondence to Ming Su.

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Su, M., Zhang, C., Xie, X. et al. Controlling factors on the submarine canyon system: A case study of the Central Canyon System in the Qiongdongnan Basin, northern South China Sea. Sci. China Earth Sci. 57, 2457–2468 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-014-4878-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-014-4878-4

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